Talking Concepts

Talking Concepts September 2021

2021 Income Tax Return

Don’t delay doing your return. You may be entitled to a refund. Better the money in your pocket.

This year because of the restrictions and until further notice, individual returns which would normally be done on the spot in the office, will be done via a telephone or internet meeting.

Once you have everything ready, contact our office on (03) 9569 5676, post to PO Box 61, Holmesglen, or email your paperwork to concepts@cr.com.au. The current restriction do not allow for you to drop off your paperwork to the office.

Once we have done a preliminary check of your information, if there are any queries or items that need to be clarified we will be in touch via email or telephone.

We have lots of handy checklists for individuals, trusts, companies, rental properties, etc, and also Fact Sheets of deductions for specific occupations. These are available on our webpage https://www.cr.com.au/get-results/tax-checklists/, or call our office on (03) 9569 5676.

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Current Rates %

Based on our lender panel, ING’s 2 Year Fixed Orange Advantage Rate of 1.84% p/a (2.49% p/a Comparison Rate), provides the most competitive Interest Rate. Interest rates are correct as at 14/09/2021 and subject to change at anytime. The comparison rate is based on a loan amount of $250,000, over a 30 year term. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the example given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees and other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Terms, conditions, fees and charges apply and your full financial situation would need to be reviewed prior to acceptance of any offer or product.

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Why Everyone Should Have a Will

Estate Planning is not just for the wealthy!
Having a will is arguably one of the most important things you can do for yourself
and your family. Not only can a Will legally protect your loved ones and your
assets, but it can also spell out exactly how you would like things handled after
you have passed on.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one Australian dies every 3 minutes and
13 seconds. It is an alarming statistic and it raises a lot of questions about what happens
after someone passes away.
Everyone’s situation is different and it is not one size fits all, however, here are some
significant reasons why you should have a Will.

You can state who will benefit from your estate. If you should die without a Will, there is no guarantee that the people you would like to benefit from your hard work, will benefit from your estate.
If you have children, a Will allows you to make an informed decision about who should take care of them in the event of a death. Having a Will allows you to appoint the person you wish to raise your children. If you have adult children, you can clarify if you wish to hold
their inheritance in a trust until they reach an age for them to release the inheritance.
De facto relationships. If you die without a Will, there is a possibility that your de facto partner may not automatically be entitled to your estate. You must seek advice to ensure you understand the best course of action to take to eliminate any disputes.
Minimise estate taxes. A Will which incorporates a testamentary trust may help minimise tax.
You decide the Executors who will handle your estate. Executors play the most important role with your estate, therefore, you will want to be sure the person who undertakes this role is honest, trustworthy, and organised. Your executor does not have to be a family member.
The cost to settle your estate may be significantly more than if you had a valid Will.
You can disinherit individuals who would otherwise stand to inherit. Because Wills specifically outlines how you would like your estate distributed, in the absence of a Will, your estate may benefit someone you did not intend to benefit.

It is important to understand that you are never too young to have a Will. Anyone over the age of 18 should consider having one and while it is
possible to create a Will without involving lawyers or legal professionals, the potential for the Will to be disputed is higher.

If you do not have a Will or you need to amend your Will, please ensure you speak with a lawyer or seek a referral from your Financial Adviser to a lawyer that will give you comfort that your wishes will come true.

Source: Interprac Financial Planning Quarterly Insights Edition 2-2021

The benefits of play for adults

Just because we are adults, that doesn’t mean we have to make life all about work. Learn how play can benefit your relationships, job, and mood.

In our hectic, modern lives, many of us focus so heavily on work and family commitments that we never seem to have time for pure fun. Somewhere between childhood
and adulthood, we stopped playing. When we carve out some leisure time, we are more likely to zone out in front of the TV or computer than engage in fun, rejuvenating play like we did as children. But play is not just essential for kids; it can be an
important source of relaxation and stimulation for adults as well.
Playing with your romantic partner, friends, co-workers, pets, and children is a sure (and fun) way to fuel your imagination, creativity, problem-solving abilities, and
emotional well-being. Adult play is a time to forget about work and commitments, and to be social in an
unstructured, creative way. Play could be simply goofing off with friends, sharing jokes with a co-worker, throwing a frisbee on the beach, dressing up on Halloween with your kids, building a snowman in the yard, playing fetch with a dog, acting out charades at a party, or going for a bike ride with your spouse with no destination in mind. There doesn’t need to be any point to the activity beyond having fun and enjoying yourself. By giving yourself permission to play with the joyful abandon of childhood, you can reap
oodles of health benefits throughout life.

The benefits of having fun
While play is crucial for a child’s development, it is also beneficial for people of all ages. Play can add
joy to life, relieve stress, supercharge learning, and connect you to others and the world around you. Play can also make work more productive and pleasurable. You can play on your own or with a pet, but for greater
benefits, play should be away from the sensoryoverload of electronic gadgets.

With fun and laughter in your world,
you can:
Relieve stress
Play is fun and can trigger the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins
promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.
Improve brain function
Playing chess, completing puzzles, or pursuing other fun activities that challenge the brain can help prevent
memory problems and improve brain function. The social interaction of playing with family and friends can
also help ward off stress and depression.
Stimulate the mind and boost creativity
Young children often learn best when they are playing—a principle that applies to adults, as well. You’ll
learn a new task better when it’s fun and you’re in a relaxed and playful mood. Play can also stimulate your
imagination, helping you adapt and solve problems.
Improve relationships and your
connection to others
Sharing laughter and fun can foster empathy, compassion, trust, and intimacy with others. Play doesn’t have to include a specific activity; it can also be a state of mind. Developing a playful nature can help
you loosen up in stressful situations, break the ice with strangers, make new friends, and form new business
relationships. Keep you feeling young and energetic In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “We don’t stop
playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” Play can boost your energy and vitality and even improve your resistance to disease, helping
you function at your best.

It is never too late to develop your playful,
humorous side. If you find yourself limiting your
playfulness, it is possible that you are selfconscious
and concerned about how you will look and sound to others when attempting to be
light-hearted. Feeling embarrassed or ridicule when trying to be playful is understandable and adults often worry that being playful will get them labelled as childish. But what is so wrong with that?

Children are incredibly creative, inventive and are
constantly learning. Wouldn’t you want to be childish, if that is the definition?
Remember that as a child, you were naturally playful; you didn’t worry about the reactions of other people and as an adult, life should be no different. Think about reclaiming your inner child by setting aside regular, quality time to laugh and have some fun. The more you play, joke, and laugh—the easier it becomes.

Source: Interprac Financial Planning Quarterly Insights Edition 2-2021

Jobkeeper and Government Assistance

If you are experiencing financial difficulties during COVID19 there are many forms of assistance available. If you are unsure if you are eligible for any of the payments, or if you or anyone you know require any assistance with any of the support measures call or email our office and speak to one of our advisers.

C&R Group during Isolation

While our office doors are closed, the Concepts & Results Group including All Trades Bookkeeping, Results Home Loans and C&R Financial Management continue to operate as normal. You can still call our office on 9569 5676 or 1300 880 863 and speak to any of our lovely Admin ladies who if unable to assist, will transfer your call to the relevant team member.

Appointments are still being held, but now via telephone or Go To Meetings.

Stay safe and healthy everyone.

ASIC Fee Increase

From 1^st July 2020 Company Fees increased. The new fees are:

Company Annual Review $273

Special Purpose Company (Trustee of SMSF) $55

Late payment of Annual Review Fees and Late lodgement of changes to company have also increased

Within 1 month after due date $82

More than 1 month after due date $340

Please ensure that you pay your ASIC invoices before the due date and if we have prepared documents to make changes to your company please return immediately to avoid penalties.

myGov account

Do you already have a myGov account? If not it may be time to set one up. Government services you can access via your myGov Account

Australian JobSearch
Australian Taxation Office
Centrelink
Child Support
Department of Veterans Affairs
Housing Vic Online Services
Medicare
My Aged Care
My Health Record
National Disability Insurance Scheme
National Redress

From 1^st July 2019 Single Touch Payroll came into effect and employers do not have to give you a payment summary (Group Certificate). Instead, you will get an end of year income statement in ATO online service through myGov. Your Income Tax Notice of Assessment can also be accessed via your myGov account.

If the Concepts & Results Group lodge your return, you don’t need to do anything if you don’t want. As your tax agent we can download your information via our ATO access portal.

To set up a MyGov account you will need:
– An email address
– A mobile number (optional)

Are you Working from Home?

If you’re an employee who works from home, you may be able to claim a deduction for expenses you incur relating to that work. These can be additional running expenses such as electricity, the decline in value of equipment or furniture and phone and internet expenses.

There are some expenses you can’t claim a deduction for as an employee. Employees who work at home can’t claim costs:

for coffee, tea, milk and other general household items your employer may otherwise have provided you with at work
related to children and their education including setting them up for online learning, teaching them at home or buying equipment such as iPads and desks
that you’re reimbursed for, paid directly by your employer or the decline in value of items provided by your employer – for example, a laptop or a phone.

If you are working from home during COVID-19 speak to one of our advisers about your claim for home office expenses when having your 2021 tax return prepared.

Support announced for Victorians under lockdown

On the heels of an extensive support package that was unveiled this week for businesses and employees facing losses due to Sydney’s stay-at-home orders, comes new aid for Victoria, which entered a snap five-day lockdown on Friday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews came to an agreement on Thursday night to provide aid to Victorian workers located in the latest COVID hotspots who will lose income due to the new restrictions.

Individuals who have lost between eight and less than 20 hours of work will receive a payment of $375, while those who have lost more than 20 hours work get $600.

There are now no restrictions on who is eligible to receive the payment, the assets test having been scrapped last week. Previously, recipients of the disaster payment had to demonstrate they had less than $10,000 in savings.

While eligibility for the individual payments is still based from the second week of a lockdown onward, the first week will also be covered “on an arrears basis” on application to Services Australia, seven days after the commencement of the lockdown.

The new agreement is in line with the Prime Minister’s remarks earlier on Thursday, proposing a “streamlined set of financial supports” for residents and businesses located in a Commonwealth-designated COVID hotspot or those subject to lockdowns enforced by states or territories.

On Friday morning, more than 40 per cent of Australians were in lockdown.

Victoria’s latest set of restrictions apply to the Greater Melbourne, Moorabool Shire, City of Greater Geelong, Borough of Queenscliff and Surf Coast Shire regions. It’s the fifth lockdown the state has imposed since the pandemic began.

With Victoria’s lockdown currently only scheduled to last for five days, support for businesses currently falls under the state government’s remit, starting on day one. If the lockdown is extended, the Commonwealth intends to implement economic support for business owners in line with the new package that is currently being tested in NSW.

The state’s support for businesses in lockdown this week is expected to mirror the Circuit Breaker Business Support Package that was introduced by Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas for Greater Melbourne’s fourth lockdown, which ran from 28 May through 17 June.

That program totalled $250 million and introduced a structure of grants that delivered targeted funding to hospitality businesses, event organisers, and small and medium-sized businesses with an annual payroll of up to $10 million.

It offered liquor licence and food certificate holders between $3,500 and $7,000 per premises. Other businesses were eligible to receive payments of $2,500 or $5,000. Grants ranging from $500 to $150,000 were available for the organisers, suppliers and hosts of live events.

The new federal model for economic support for businesses in an extended lockdown foresees aid of between $1,500 and $10,000 for businesses with annual revenue of up to $50 million. Businesses must, however, maintain their regular staffing levels and demonstrate a fall of at least 30 per cent over a similar two-week period in 2019.

– My Business

The latest government home schemes explained

There was some good news for first home buyers in the recent Federal Budget.
It included a variety of new schemes and extensions to existing schemes, all
aimed at helping more people realise their dream of home ownership.

Here’s an overview of the assistance being made available and who can benefit.
Building your first home On 1 July 2021, the New Home Guarantee, previously referred to as the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, will release 10,000 places for first home buyers wanting to build a new home or buy a newly built home. Any home buyer with less than a 20 per cent deposit normally needs to pay lenders mortgage insurance, which can represent a large additional cost at purchase or potentially add to your repayments if it forms part of your loan. With the New Home Guarantee, first home buyers can buy their home with a deposit of as little as 5 per cent without having to pay lenders mortgage insurance. This is because the government will guarantee up to 15 percent of the value of the property.

In order to be eligible for the New Home Guarantee scheme, you and/or your spouse or de facto partner, will need to be an Australian resident over the age of 18. There are several criteria you will need to satisfy including an income test, a prior ownership test, meet the owner occupier requirement and have a minimum 5 per cent deposit. Help for single parents with dependents The new Family Home Guarantee is providing mortgage guarantees for single parents with dependants, who want to build a new home or buy an existing one.

The scheme allows single parents to buy a home with a deposit of as low as 2 per cent, and is open to single parents who are first home buyers or have been owner-occupiers before. To be eligible your annual income must be below $125,000. It is flagged to run for four years with the first 10,000 places opening on 1 July 2021. The Family Home Guarantee works in a similar way to the New Home Guarantee Scheme and is an exciting initiative for single parents who are struggling to save a deposit. Increases to tax-efficient deposit saving in your super The Government is extending and increasing the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS) to help even more people buy their own home. From 1 July 2022, you are able to release up to $50,000 from your superannuation to put towards a deposit for your first home. If two people are saving under the scheme, that’s up to $100,000 you could add to your deposit. This is an increase from the $30,000 maximum per person previously available. The great thing about this scheme is that you can benefit from the tax savings that apply to voluntary super contributions and the income those investments earn while saving for your first home deposit. The changes apply retrospectively to valid FHSS release requests and contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2018. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call if you are interested in applying for the scheme or would like to find out more.

Extension to HomeBuilder start dates
If you applied for a HomeBuilder grant but haven’t
started construction yet, there’s good news for you too. The construction deadline has been extended from six to 18 months for all applications, which includes contracts signed between 4 June 2020 and 31 March 2021.

Victorian State Government: Small Business COVID Hardship Fund

The Victorian State Government has released a new Small Business COVID Hardship Fund providing $10,000 grants for eligible small and medium businesses located within Victoria.

We wanted to email all our clients to make them aware of the grant – so that no one was missed.

Eligibility

This grant is only available for businesses that were not eligible for a Victorian Government business grant since 27 May 2021.

To be eligible, businesses must:

be located within Victoria
as a direct consequence of COVID-19 restrictions since 27 May 2021 have experienced a reduction in turnover of at least 70% for a minimum consecutive two-week period comparable to a benchmark period in 2019
have an annual Victorian payroll of up to $10 million in 2019-20 on an ungrouped basis
have been registered for Goods and Services Tax (GST) on and from 28 July 2021
hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) and have held that ABN on and from 28 July 2021
be registered with the responsible Federal or State regulator.

Employing businesses must also:

be registered with WorkSafe Victoria
attest that the business is supporting its workers to access any paid leave entitlements, or that if a person can work from home, to work from home during the COVID-19 restrictions, and supporting their casual workers, where possible.

Information for Application

When applying for this grant you will need:

to demonstrate a reduction in turnover of at least 70% for a minimum consecutive two-week period since 27 May 2021 as a direct consequence of COVID-19 restrictions, comparable to a benchmark period in 2019
- businesses should compare their best consecutive two-week trading period between 27 May and 10 September 2019, with their worst consecutive two-week trading period between 27 May and 10 September 2021
endorsement of the reduction in turnover by a qualified agent (qualified accountant, registered tax agent or registered BAS agent)
- you may be required to provide evidence including a sales report, financial statement and/or a Business Activity Statement (BAS) to demonstrate the reduction in turnover
a valid proof of identity document (Australian driver licence, Australian Passport, Medicare Card or Australian visa information and foreign passport).

How to Apply

Applications are open from Thursday 12 August 2021 until program funds are exhausted (or on Friday 10 September 2021), whichever is earlier.

You can choose to apply for this program in one of three ways:

A qualified agent (qualified accountant, registered tax agent or registered BAS agent) can apply on your behalf and verify the 70% drop in business turnover as part of the application. The qualified agent needs to attest that they are authorised to apply on your behalf.
You can apply directly as a business owner and have the application verified by a qualified agent (qualified accountant, registered tax agent or registered BAS agent) using the Small Business COVID Hardship Fund – Letter from the Qualified Agent template (DOCX 51.23 KB).
Business owners who do not have access to a qualified accountant, registered tax agent or registered BAS agent can register their interest for the program. Applicants may receive an Invitation to Apply email from the department. Applications received via the Invitation to Apply process may take up to 25 business days to process, due to the need for additional verification measures.

The link to the application can be found here.

We at C & R are happy to review the businesses eligibility and apply on your behalf or complete the agent letter. However, please be aware that this would attract a fee for our service.

Visit us

Want to discuss the above face to face? Come visit our specialised team members to find out more.

612 Warrigal Road, East Malvern PO Box 61, Holmesglen, Vic 3148

Call us

Have any questions? Further discussions on the above can be may be held over a telephone appointment.

(03) 9569 5676

Contact us

For any and all queries regarding the above, you may contact Concepts & Reuslts by emailing us

concepts@cr.com.au

Talking Concepts